Digital Dirt

Things have gone all kinds of wrong this week, on both the personal and writing fronts. I would love to rant a little about the writing side of it and get some of the support and commiseration that fellow bloggers and writers are so good at. But I don't dare, for fear that some day an agent or editor might do a search on me and my digital dirt would be revealed. I've seen warnings all over the blogosphere to be careful what you put out there because too much complaining or too much personal information might cause a publishing professional to pause or even pass.

I read a blog of another writer and while I find her posts interesting, I cringe to read some of the REALLY personal stuff that she puts out there. I understand that it is who she is and she writes about it because it defines her in many ways. But I also know that it is the kind of thing that would throw up warning signs about her ability to be a professional writer (meaning one who can meet deadlines, market herself in a polished way, and so on). This writer is in the query stages and I want to email her and say 'Be Careful!!' But I don't know her enough to do that, although sometimes I feel I do, courtesy of the strange pseudo-intimacy that blogging sometimes promotes.

In the meantime, I try to keep my own thoughts and blog posts free of digital dirt. How about you? How careful are you about what you post? Do you read other blogs that are too personal? Do you know anyone whose digital dirt came back to haunt them?